# 1805
In terms of impact it has been suggested that, short of a global thermo-nuclear war, there is probably no event that would impact the people's of this earth more negatively than a severe pandemic.
While we look to the Spanish Flu for guidance as to how bad a pandemic could be, there is no reason to believe that 1918 served up the worst that nature could offer. It is simply the worst pandemic in recent history.
Pandemics, while rare, have a bad habit of coming around several times each century. Sometimes they are mild, as we saw in 1968 and 1957, and sometimes they are truly horrific. We won't know what the next pandemic will have in store for us until it is over.
Increasingly, governments are accepting that it is only a matter of time until the next pandemic strikes.
This from the Financial Times.
Flu more potent risk than terror
By Stephen Fidler, Defence and Security Editor
Published: March 20 2008 03:24 | Last updated: March 20 2008 03:24
Terrorism does not represent a strategic threat to the UK, according to a new national security strategy announced by the government on Wednesday. A more potent risk is of an influenza-like pandemic that could spread rapidly, accelerated by globalisation, says the strategy.
“Experts agree that there is a high probability of a pandemic occurring ... We estimate that a pandemic could cause fatalities ... in the range 50,000 to 750,000, although both the timing and impact are impossible to predict exactly,” the strategy document says.
The threat from terrorism was in quantity and quality more serious than in the past and was likely to persist for many years. “While terrorism represents a threat to all our communities, and an attack on our values and our way of life, it does not at present amount to a strategic threat.”
that no state or alliance has the intent or capability to threaten the UK militarily, though it was impossible to rule out such a threat in the long term. Yet, it says the country remains subject to high levels of covert, non-military activity by foreign intelligence organisations.
